


A Birthday to Remember

by winryofresembool



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Birthday, F/M, Family Feels, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Loneliness, Pets, background royai, dad!ed is the best ed, mainly just dad!ed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2021-01-21 10:31:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21298007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winryofresembool/pseuds/winryofresembool
Summary: Ed tries to cheer up her daughter on her 10th birthday.
Relationships: Edward Elric/Winry Rockbell, Riza Hawkeye/Roy Mustang
Comments: 1
Kudos: 30





	A Birthday to Remember

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was written as a birthday present to my friend. Didn't think a fic about getting a dog would get this long, but somehow that just happened. Please enjoy, and let me know what you think!! I live for comments :D

”Emma?”

”Yeah, dad?” the eldest daughter of the Rockbell-Elric family lifted her gaze from her book. Her father, Edward, was standing next to her, staring at her with a weird expression.

“Is there something you’d like for a birthday gift, Bean?” he asked.

“Sure. That the twins would go away and I could hear my thoughts so I can read.” She gave her dad a pointed look. She had made it clear many times the twins annoyed her, and Ed sighed.

“Listen, Emma. We know that the constant crying is getting into your nerves. Heck, it’s getting into all our nerves. But they are just babies, Truth knows you were just as loud when you were of their age.”

“You’re not helping, dad.” Emma rolled her eyes but decided to change the topic. Slowly, she said: “If you really want to know what I want though, it’s someone to play with. Alan… is always tinkering something in the workshop when he’s home, and Elena likes playing with her pretty dolls. I want to go out and explore and there’s no one I can do that with.”

“You’re not having friends at school?” Ed asked worriedly. He could still remember what it felt like when he only had Al to rely on.

With brutal honestly Emma answered: “They’re all stupid, they don’t understand when I rant about my favorite books and they call me know-it-all behind my back just because I know the answers to teachers’ questions better than they do. So no, I don’t want to be their friend.”

“I’m… I’m sorry,” Ed grunted, not sure what else to say. He wished he had Winry to help him with this talk. “You know… sometimes we misinterpret things a lot. And we judge other people too fast. Do you know how I got to know the Emperor of Xing? He was in Amestris illegally, without anything to eat or drink, so he bought some with my money when we had just met. A shitty thing to do, right? But I learned to know him better and found out he was actually very serious about his country, and he seemed less bratty after that. Not to mention, he and Greed actually turned out to be pretty valuable on the Promised Day. But my point is, sometimes we find friends in very unexpected situations if we just keep eyes open. I’m sure you will too.”

“Uh, thanks dad. I hope you’re right,” Emma said awkwardly, focusing her eyes on her book.

“I know I am. And Emma,” Ed added after a brief silence.

“Yeah?”

“Your old man may be an annoying guy a lot of the time…And I know the twins have taken a lot of our time lately… But whenever you need to talk, know that I am always here. And I do want to know how you’re doing. And so do your mum and your siblings.”

“Oh… Yeah, I’ll try to remember that.” Emma nodded. She wouldn’t admit it, but she had needed to hear that.

“Good,” Ed said and turned to leave.

“Dad?” Emma said hesitantly when Ed was almost out of the room.

“Mmmh?”

“Can I… get a hug?”

Ed was caught a bit off guard, but he was happy about Emma’s question nevertheless. “Sure thing, Bean,” he said and returned back to her.

“Don’t call me that,” Emma mumbled against his shirt, but was still happy to wrap her arms around him.

“You’ll always be my Bean.”

“Ugh, why do you have to ruin the moment like that?” Emma growled, although not very seriously.

“Because that’s my job, right? To annoy my kids. Anyway, I should probably get going because I just got an idea,” Ed said mysteriously.

“Oh?”

“You’ll see eventually!” He shouted from the door and left a very confused Emma behind.

…

“Winry, did you say you had seen Major Hawkeye recently?” Ed asked his wife only a few minutes after his talk with his eldest daughter.

“Yeah, Riza and I had a cup of coffee together when I was in Central to meet up with a client last week,” Winry admitted.

“Right. Did she mention anything about the puppies? I heard from the Gen… I mean Mustang that some of them have already been claimed…”

“Why do you ask?” Winry asked with surprise. “I thought you were against taking one when we visited them the last time.”

“Yeah but… sometimes opinions change.”

“They don’t usually change when it comes to you,” Winry eyed her husband suspiciously. “What caused this?”

“Well… It’s Emma. Remember how much she loved that black puppy? She… she just told me she wanted someone to play with, but she doesn’t like her classmates. And I can’t just magically change people’s attitudes, so… what’s a more loyal friend than a dog? And we haven’t had one since Den… Maybe it would be about time…”

“I guess we could consider that,” Winry agreed. “But she has to take the main responsibility herself because you know we don’t have a lot of extra time in our hands.”

“True. But if given the chance, I think she’d be more than happy to accept that challenge.” Ed grinned at his wife.

…

“Hello Edward, what brings you here?”

True to his old habit, Ed hadn’t called Riza Hawkeye, now ranked a Major, before arriving to her doorstop. Riza didn’t seem too perplexed by this fact though; she brushed it off and instead wanted to know what the reason for his sudden arrival.

“It’s my daughter. She wants… well, I was thinking that this might be the right moment for a new dog, after all. Despite what I may have said during our last visit.” Ed shrugged.

“Oh! Well, you were in a luck because one of the people who had planned to adopt one of our puppies just canceled the other day. Apparently their kid has allergies. So, we do have one left!”

“Which one is it?” Ed asked, hoping it would be the one that Emma had bonded with earlier.

“Come see yourself,” Riza invited Ed inside.

..

“General Ba… Mustang, why are you here?”

Ed found his ex-superior in Riza’s living room watching the puppies intently, a mildly amused expression on his face.

“I just had to drop some work things to the Major…” Roy answered casually while leaning against the puppy fence.

“I almost believe you,” Ed rolled his eyes and stepped closer to look at the puppies. “One would think you have gotten soft and want to get a puppy of your own.”

“Tell me, Fullmetal, how many puppies do you have at home, though? I have lost my count,” Roy claimed.

“They are human children, Mustang, and there are 6 of them, have been almost a year now.” Ed glared at him.

“Don’t mind him, Ed, he’s just… doing what he usually does,” Riza said, a tiny, mischievous smile on her face. “The other day he asked me weirdly specific questions about them, so he does actually remember their names and even birthdays.”

Ed wanted to throw Roy another snarky comment, but when he saw that the older man was looking at him with a serious expression now, he decided to change the topic. “The thing is… Emma really needs some company. Winry and I… can’t really offer her what she needs, even though we are trying our best, and her siblings, besides Alan of course, are still too young to understand her mindset. I know a pet can’t talk to her back, but it can at least give her some distraction and company when she feels the family isn’t enough.”

“That does sound like a good idea,” Riza nodded. “Hayate and the ones after him have been a very big help to me as well.”

“If I remember correctly, the one Emma seemed to bond with the most was the black one with a tiny white dot in his neck. Is he free still?” Ed asked, trying to spot that one among the puppies.

“I’m afraid he has been claimed…” Riza said apologetically. But then a smile spread on her face. “But I remember that the person who claimed him seemed to like another one too and he was debating between them for a long while… I could pull a couple of strings and see what I can do!”

…

15 minutes later, Riza had managed to call the person who wanted the dog Emma had fallen in love with. At first, he was reluctant to switch it to another puppy, but when he heard it was for a 10-year-old girl, he eventually softened and gave in. Ed promised to compensate for it somehow, even saying that he’d fix roofs or anything if needed but the man laughed it off and said that the husband of Winry Rockbell didn’t owe him anything. It turned out Winry had helped the man’s wife with her prosthetic limb a few years prior and they both were still very thankful for her help. Ed thanked his wife in his mind and sighed of relief when the phone call ended.

“Emma will be so happy!”

“I’m sure she will. I wish I could be there to see her face,” Riza said.

“Oh but you can,” Ed told her enthusiastically. “After all this trouble, the least I can do for you is to invite you to her party. I’m sure she’d be happy to see you too” Then he casted a dark look at Roy. “I suppose you can come too. If you really insist.”

“You know I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Roy smiled smugly.

“Right,” Ed snorted. “Anyway, remember, no one is allowed to know about this! I want it to be a surprise.”

“Don’t worry, Fullmetal, the secret will go to the grave with us.” Roy said wryly and got another poisonous glare from Ed.

…

Emma wasn’t in her best mood when she woke up in her birthday morning. The twins, who slept in the room right below hers, had been screaming a lot the previous night (she had heard her dad suspecting they were ill, but Emma was positive they had done it just to ruin her night), which naturally meant also Emma had slept badly. She had tried to read for a moment but her flashlight had run out of batteries and she didn’t have candles in her room either, afraid of turning on the big light because her parents may notice and ask her why she was awake at that hour. So, it was no wonder that when she marched into the kitchen for breakfast, she was far from the “sunshine” as her dad described her when he greeted her.

“Happy birthday to my sunshine! Big 10 today, huh? How does that feel?”

“Would feel better if I wasn’t tired as hell,” she gave her dad a pointed look, letting him know nonverbally that she had been awake because of the twins.

“I’ll let that language slip this one time because it’s your birthday. But don’t let me hear that again,” Ed warned, cocking his eyebrow.

“Whatever,” Emma snorted, knowing full well Ed had probably been worse than her with his language when he had been 10. She buttered a bread and then started looking around, asking: “Why isn’t there a cake on the table? I thought it’s a tradition…”

“Bean, we’ll get it later this afternoon, we’ve been so b…”

“Busy, yeah, I know,” Emma said, disappointment clear from his voice. “I feel like that’s what you always say these days when you need some excuse…”

Ed glanced at his other kids who gave each other vary looks and decided this was not the place for this discussion. She told Emma to follow him into the living room, and she did, arms folded over her chest.

“Listen, Emma. I can understand why you are bummed, but the twins simply need more attention right now because they can’t help themselves, unlike you do. I’m pretty sure they’ve been crying a lot is because they have an ear infection or something like that bothering them. And your mum didn’t want to take that new patient, but she had to, because her pride wouldn’t let her say no. She wanted to keep this as a surprise, but she already told me that once she was done with the automail and got the payment for it, she’d take you to Central for a trip. So please, don’t imply that we don’t care because we do. I hope that today we can show how much.”

“Are you… saying… that you have actually planned something for me?” Emma wasn’t sure how to react, but her face reflected both genuine surprise and relief.

“Of course we have! Why would you even think otherwise? Have we ever forgotten your birthday?” Ed asked.

“No… of course you haven’t…” Emma said regretfully. “Sorry. I guess… I just wasn’t expecting anything because you have had your hands full…”

“Well, I promise that something you’ll like will happen today but I can’t say anything else because it would ruin the surprise.”

“Okay. Then you don’t have to. But where’s mum?” Emma realized suddenly. “She’s always the first one at the breakfast table.”

“She… Uh… I think she may have run out of some automail parts and went to buy them,” Ed lied quickly, but from his face it became quite obvious it wasn’t true. In reality, she had gone to buy some necessities for the dog.

“Dad, you are a bad liar. But don’t worry, you don’t have to tell me.”

Ed swiped his forehead in relief. “Good, because I’m pretty sure your mum would have killed me if I had slipped something…”

Emma seemed already happier when she said: “It’s rare to see you so mysterious, dad, I really can’t help but wonder what you’re hiding! But guess I’ll see soon enough, right?”

Ed ruffled his daughter’s hair a bit. “Of course you will, Bean. Now, let’s go back to the others, your porridge is getting cold.”

“Daaad, do I have to eat porridge on my birthday?”

“Of course you do! Otherwise you won’t grow big and strong like me!”

Emma couldn’t help but snort at his dad’s silliness, but she elbowed him on his side softly, letting him know they were good now.

…

In the afternoon Ed and Winry kept staring from the window nervously. Riza was supposed to bring the dog any moment now, but the problem was keeping Emma out of the way so they could bring him in without her noticing. Thankfully Alan knew about his parents’ plot, so he took Emma out for ice cream before his dad started showing signs of exploding from keeping the secret. 

Finally Riza brought the puppy and she, Ed and Winry took him in the livingroom where Emma’s gift pile (including a lot of dog necessities) was waiting. Ed had built the puppy a wooden box with cushions inside to make it comfortable, and that’s where he was planning to put him when Emma got home.

Soon Winry had finished decorating the cake Al and Mei had brought for them, the younger kids were hanging out quietly upstairs, even the twins sleeping, and Alan and Emma would probably be arriving soon. Riza, Roy (who had not wanted to miss a chance to tease Ed for being a doting father), Al, Mei and their kids were already waiting for the birthday girl, and the rest of the guests would visit later that evening.

While they were waiting, the puppy was acting a bit restlessly, as if it was sensing something interesting was going on. Riza tried her best to keep it occupied by clinging her keys. It seemed to have developed a weird interest on them; when Emma had first met the puppies, she had showed this same puppy her keys to her diary and the puppy had kept following her since then.

Finally, Ed saw some movement on their yard and told Riza to set the dog to the spot he had planned for him. For a moment that plan seemed to work. The puppy sniffed his surroundings and tried to mouth the pillow in the box a bit before laying on it. But when he heard the door going, he didn’t want to stay in the box anymore. Unfortunately, Ed had underestimated the puppy’s jumping skills and when he turned away for a moment, he was already out, running mindlessly towards the hall. On his way there, he managed to push a broom Ed had left leaning against the dining table, hitting the juice jug on it, which fell over and spilled the contents on the tablecloth, floor and Ed’s clothes. Emma and Alan could hear their dad’s cursing from the livingroom before their attention moved to the black little storm approaching them.

“What… is this?” Emma asked with wide eyes when the puppy stopped right in front of her, jumping against her legs excitedly. She stared at it for a moment, her eyes suddenly flashing with recognition. Then she took out the door keys she had had in her pocket and made a ‘clink’ sound with them. The dog immediately reacted.

“Oh my… Truth! It’s him!” She exclaimed and crouched down to pet him. Finally, she turned her head to address her parents: “Mum? Dad? What does this mean? Is he… Is he…” Her voice was starting to break.

“He’s all yours, sweetie!” Winry said softly.

Emma was silent for a moment. She looked between the dog that was now licking her hand, and her parents, and suddenly she jumped up and squealed louder than Ed and Winry had probably ever heard. Then she almost tackled her parents as she pulled them into a hug and shed a few tears against Ed’s shirt.

“I wished… I wished… but I never thought you actually would…”

“For you we’d go through the portal of Truth again, Bean,” Ed was the first to speak.

“Emma, sweetie,” Winry added. “I wish you had told us earlier how you felt. I’m so sorry for not seeing it until your dad told me about your discussion. If you want to, we can try to switch schools after the summer break so you can meet new kids. And we are going to do our best to give you the attention you need. But for now, will you take care of this puppy? I have a feeling he likes you already.”

“Of course I will,” she mumbled emotionally, wiping the corners of her eyes quickly.

“Remember, he’s a lot of responsibility,” Winry said as she was stroking her daughter’s hair. “We are expecting you to help with the feeding, training and walking because we can’t do it alone. You can do that, right?”

“Of course, mum!” Emma said without even thinking about it.

“So,” Riza stepped in, “How are you going to name this boy?”

Emma looked at the puppy for a moment, and without hesitation she noted: “Key!”

…

A couple of weeks later, Emma took Key to a local park. They had been doing surprisingly well considering the puppy had only recently been separated from his family: Key already seemed to enjoy sleeping in Emma’s bed, did pretty well with the potty training and even knew how to sit already. That’s why they were allowed to go out on their own without the watching eyes of Emma’s parents. The two of them were simply enjoying their time together, Key sniffing everything he found from the ground and Emma being happy when someone stopped to compliment the puppy.

Just when they were about to leave, Emma noticed a little girl by the road staring at them. She was probably a little younger than her, her curly hair kept under a big sun hat, but even that couldn’t quite hide the fact that she had a lot of freckles on her face. She stopped there only for a moment, giving them a tiny wave when she saw Emma noticing. However, that moment ended fast when the girl’s mother came out of the shop she was standing in front of, and urged the girl to continue walking in what seemed a pretty cold fashion to Emma. The two girls continued to their own ways, but little did they know that one day the fate would reunite them and create the most beautiful form of bonds between them. Meanwhile, Emma just scratched behind Key’s ears and smiled at him, her face expressing that she had just met a friend.


End file.
